BBC - Friday, 30 April, 2004

Macedonian officials have admitted that seven alleged Pakistani militants killed in March 2002 were in fact illegal immigrants shot in cold blood.

They said four officers in the security services had been charged with their murder, while former Interior Minister Ljube Boskovski may also face charges.

At the time, the interior ministry said they had been killed after trying to ambush police in the capital, Skopje.

But a police spokeswoman said they had in fact been shot in a "staged murder".

Police spokeswoman Mirjana Konteska told the Associated Press news agency that the victims were illegal immigrants who had been lured into Macedonia by promises that they would be taken to western Europe.

She said they were transported to the Rastanski Lozja area, about 5km north of Skopje, where they were surrounded and gunned down by police.

Full story here.

The Council of Europe has approved two reports strongly condemning the human rights situation in Belarus.

The council accused several Belarus officials of direct involvement in the disappearances of four men and called on member states to consider sanctions.

The men who vanished were all high-profile figures, including opponents of President Alexander Lukashenko.

The reports came shortly after a leading opposition figure was detained in Belarus on document theft charges.

Full story here. More on this subject:

A court in Cuba has sentenced a blind dissident lawyer to four years in jail. The lawyer, Juan Carlos Gonzalez Leiva, was convicted of contempt, public disorder and resisting arrest.

The Cuban government made no comment about the trial, which lasted one day. Nine other dissidents tried at the same time were given shorter sentences. The trial was held behind closed doors in the central town of Ciego de Avila and was the first of its kind in the country this year.

Last year, the Cuban authorities sentenced 75 opposition activists to jail terms of up to 28 years, prompting criticism from the European Union and the United States.

All 10 defendants in the latest trial were arrested on 4 March 2002, when they tried to visit an independent journalist, who had allegedly been beaten by police at a hospital in Ciego de Avila, 400 km (249 miles) east of Havana. They have been detained since then.

Full story here.

For the Record: 26 April 2004, Monday.
ABC News
By Brian Ross

At least three senior United Nations officials are suspected of taking multimillion-dollar bribes from the Saddam Hussein regime.

One year after his fall, U.S. officials say they have evidence, some in cash, that Saddam diverted to his personal bank accounts approximately $5 billion from the United Nations Oil-for-Food program.

In what has been described as the largest humanitarian aid effort ever undertaken, the U.N. Oil-for-Food program began in 1996 to help Iraqis who were suffering under sanctions imposed following the first Gulf War.

The program allowed Iraq to sell limited amounts of oil, under supposedly tight U.N. supervision, to finance the purchase of much-needed humanitarian goods. Most prominent among those accused in the scandal is Benon Sevan, the Cyprus-born U.N. undersecretary general who ran the program for six years.

In an interview with ABCNEWS last year, Sevan denied any wrongdoing.

"Well, I can tell you there have been no allegations about me," he said. "Maybe you can try to dig it out." And in a Feb. 10 statement, Sevan challenged those making the allegations to "come forward and provide the necessary documentary evidence" and present it to U.N. investigators.

But documents have surfaced in Baghdad, in the files of the former Iraqi Oil Ministry, allegedly linking Sevan to a pay-off scheme in which some 270 prominent foreign officials received the right to trade in Iraqi oil at cut-rate prices.

"It's almost like having coupons of bonds or shares. You can sell those coupons to other people who are normal oil traders," said Claude Hankes-Drielsma, a British adviser to the Iraq Governing Council.

Investigators say the smoking gun is a letter to former Iraqi oil minister Amer Mohammed Rasheed, obtained by ABCNEWS and not yet in the hands of the United Nations.

In the letter, dated Aug. 10, 1998, an Iraqi oil executive mentions a request by a Panama-based company, African Middle East Petroleum Co., to buy Iraqi oil - along with a suggestion that Sevan had a role in the deal.

"Mr. Muwafaq Ayoub of the Iraqi mission in New York informed us by telephone that the abovementioned company is the company that Mr. Sevan cited to you during his last trip to Baghdad," the executive wrote in Arabic.

A handwritten note indicated that permission for the oil purchase was granted by "the Vice President of the Republic" on Aug. 15, 1998.

The second page of the letter contains a table titled "Quantity of Oil Allocated and Given to Mr. Benon Sevan." The table lists a total of 7.3 million barrels of oil as the "quantity executed" - an amount that, if true, would have generated an illegal profit of as much as $3.5 million.

"Somebody who is running the Oil-for-Food program for the United Nations should not be receiving any benefit of any kind from a rogue dictator who was perpetuating terror in his country," said Hankes-Drielsma.

Oil Contracts for Political Support

The inquiries into the United Nations Oil-for-Food program result from the release in January of a list of 270 individuals, companies and institutions that allegedly received lucrative oil contracts from Saddam Hussein's former regime in return for political support.

The list was published by an Iraqi independent newspaper which claimed the document was discovered in the files of the former Iraqi Oil Ministry in Baghdad. Oil vouchers were allegedly given either as gifts or as payment for goods imported into Iraq in violation of the U.N. sanctions.

The following are the names of some of those listed as receiving Iraqi oil contracts (amounts are in millions of barrels of oil):

Russia

The Companies of the Russian Communist Party: 137 million
The Companies of the Liberal Democratic Party: 79.8 million
The Russian Committee for Solidarity with Iraq: 6.5 million and 12.5 million (two separate contracts)
Head of the Russian Presidential Cabinet: 90 million
The Russian Orthodox Church: 5 million

France

Charles Pasqua, former minister of interior: 12 million
Trafigura (Patrick Maugein), businessman: 25 million
Ibex: 47.2 million
Bernard Merimee, former French ambassador to the United Nations: 3 million
Michel Grimard, founder of the French-Iraqi Export Club: 17.1 million

Syria

Firas Mostafa Tlass, son of Syria's defense minister: 6 million
Turkey
Zeynel Abidin Erdem: more than 27 million
Lotfy Doghan: more than 11 million

Indonesia

Megawati Sukarnoputri: 11 million

Spain

Ali Ballout, Lebanese journalist: 8.8 million

Yugoslavia

The Socialist Party: 22 million
Kostunica's Party: 6 million

Canada

Arthur Millholland, president and CEO of Oilexco: 9.5 million

Italy

Father Benjamin, a French Catholic priest who arranged a meeting between the pope and Tariq Aziz: 4.5 million
Roberto Frimigoni: 24.5 million

United States

Samir Vincent: 7 million
Shakir Alkhalaji: 10.5 million

United Kingdom

George Galloway, member of Parliament: 19 million
Mujaheddin Khalq: 36.5 million

South Africa

Tokyo Saxwale: 4 million

Jordan

Shaker bin Zaid: 6.5 million
The Jordanian Ministry of Energy: 5 million
Fawaz Zureikat: 6 million
Toujan Al Faisal, former member of Parliament: 3 million

Lebanon

The son of President Lahoud: 5.5 million

Egypt

Khaled Abdel Nasser: 16.5 million
Emad Al Galda, businessman and Parliament member: 14 million

Palestinian Territories

The Palestinian Liberation Organization: 4 million
Abu Al Abbas: 11.5 million

Qatar

Hamad bin Ali Al Thany: 14 million

Libya

Prime Minister Shukri Ghanem: 1 million

Chad

Foreign minister of Chad: 3 million

Brazil

The October 8th Movement: 4.5 million
Myanmar (Burma)
The minister of the Forests of Myanmar: 5 million

Ukraine

The Social Democratic Party: 8.5 million
The Communist Party: 6 million
The Socialist Party: 2 million
The FTD oil company: 2 million

HAVANA (Reuters) - Cuban dissidents and the top U.S. diplomat in Havana gave Oliver Stone's second documentary on Cuban leader Fidel Castro bad reviews on Friday, saying it failed to present an objective view.

In ``Looking for Fidel,'' which aired April 14 on HBO, the 77-year-old leader told the film director he had no intention of stepping down after 45 years, stating: ``I am not the one in power. It is the people who are in power.''

``I think I will die on the job,'' Castro said.

The head of the U.S. diplomatic mission in Cuba, James Cason, invited Cuban dissidents to his home on Thursday to watch the documentary.

Cason quoted them as saying they found it ``insulting'' that Stone had not personally interviewed the wives of jailed dissidents and had sent an assistant instead.

``This should have been called 'Justifying Fidel' not 'Looking for Fidel','' Cason said.

The diplomat said the message of Stone's film was that repression was justified in Cuba because the Bush administration was planning to invade the island.

``It's the conspiracy theory that Stone has always had in his films,'' said Cason, who said Washington was seeking a peaceful post-Castro transition in Havana.

``The documentary is biased. I was disappointed, even though I was interviewed by his team,'' said veteran human rights activist Elizardo Sanchez.

``It does not manage to give an objective picture of Cuban reality and is influenced by the enormous propaganda capability of a totalitarian regime,'' Sanchez said.

In the film, Stone asked Castro about political freedom and the future of Cuba, asking him if he was prepared to hand over to a younger generation of leaders.

Castro said he had no intention of pleasing President Bush and the thought of relinquishing his post as ``comandante'' had not crossed his mind.

A year ago, Cuba rounded up 75 dissidents who were given prison terms of up to 28 years for conspiring with the United States to undermine Castro's revolution.

HBO yanked a flattering 2003 Stone documentary about Castro called ``Comandante'' because it failed to mention last year's crackdown on dissent. HBO asked Stone to go back to Cuba and interview Castro again.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - A nuclear-armed Iran would pose an intolerable threat to peace in the Middle East and a mortal danger to Israel, President Bush said on Wednesday, adding that any such threat would be ``dealt with'' by the United States and its allies.

In strongly worded remarks before an audience of newspaper editors and publishers, the Republican president pressed the secretive leadership of the Islamic republic to heed U.S. and European demands not to pursue a nuclear weapons program.

``It would be intolerable to peace and stability in the Middle East if they get a nuclear weapon, particularly since their stated objective is the destruction of Israel,'' Bush said in answer to a question about international cooperation against militant attacks.

``The development of a nuclear weapon in Iran is intolerable. And a program is intolerable. Otherwise they will be dealt with, starting through the United Nations.''

The United States accuses Iran of pursuing a nuclear weapons program, but Tehran says its nuclear ambitions are confined to generating electricity. Washington hard-liners have been pressing for U.N. sanctions against the Islamic state.

The European Union has told Beijing there will be no early lifting of its arms trade embargo on China.

The ban was imposed after the 1989 crackdown on pro-democracy demonstrators in Tiananmen Square.

France had pushed to end the ban, but most EU states said there must first be clear evidence of an improvement in Beijing's human rights practices.

Full story here.

Editor's commentary: It is really hard to comprehend what reasons prompt French government to demand sale for weapons to Stalinist government in Beijing but then if we know what French government record is on establishing friendly relationships with Vietnam, former USSR, Cuba and other terrorist, criminal and totalitarian states then it is nothing new. The only real question here is if it is possible to have one decent post WWII government in France that is not under Moscow control.

A brutal assault on a Moscow student who tried to expose an alleged police rape ring on the city's metro seems to have stirred the country's youth like no other issue.

German Galdetsky, 19, has been in a critical condition in hospital since he was shot in the head with a rubber bullet by an unidentified attacker near a city railway station on 25 March.

Police launched a formal investigation into both the attack on German and his allegations this week but the country's political establishment has maintained a deafening silence.

Not even the horrors of Chechnya have provoked as much debate among Russia's young, Moscow journalist Sergey Sokolov told BBC News Online.

Full story here.

Two Russian intelligence agents have gone on trial in Qatar charged with murdering a former Chechen president.

The two Russians were arrested shortly after the February car bombing that killed Zelimkhan Yanderbiyev and hurt his son Dawoud in the tiny Gulf state.

Prosecutors allege the agents detonated explosives under Yanderbiyev's car as he left a Doha mosque after prayers.

The charges include murdering Yanderbiyev, attempting to murder his son and destabilising security in Qatar.

Qatar's general prosecutor, Saad al-Dousari, told the court the two men entered the Gulf state illegally from Saudi Arabia with help from the Russian Embassy in Riyadh.

Full story here.

PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti (AP) -- Targeted for years by supporters of ousted President Jean-Bertrand Aristide, private radio stations in Haiti are slowly returning to the air.

But fear of attacks against journalists who used to work for pro-government stations linger in the traumatized nation where the media and government have long been at odds.

``These journalists are hiding from ... anyone with a gun or a grievance,'' said Joanne Mariner, Americas director for New York-based Human Rights Watch.

During the monthlong revolt that killed more than 300 people and led to Aristide's ouster on Feb. 29, more than a dozen journalists were either threatened or attacked, including a Spanish television correspondent who was killed when shots broke out during a demonstration held to celebrate Aristide's departure. The shooting was blamed on Aristide militants, but U.S. Marines say they also returned fire.

Under Aristide's administration, at least two journalists were killed -- including well-known radio host Jean Dominique -- and several others considered to hold an anti-Aristide bias were attacked. Dozens went into hiding.

Some reported getting anonymous calls with the sounds of guns clicking on the other end. Others were in radio stations while attackers sprayed the buildings with gunfire.

``I'm still afraid of Aristide's supporters,'' said Romney Cajuste, a reporter for the private station Radio Metropole who was kidnapped by armed thugs claiming to be Aristide loyalists. ``They've told us we'll collect our punishment at the cemetery.''

Since Aristide's departure, many say they feel safer to do their jobs; but some journalists who worked for pro-government stations still fear reprisals.

In northern Cap-Haitien, where rebels maintain a strong presence, two radio stations linked to Aristide's Lavalas Family party were torched by residents and shot up by rebels.

One reporter for the pro-Aristide Radio Solidarite in the capital of Port-au-Prince said he went underground after armed men broke into his home looking for him while he was out, according to Human Rights Watch.

Another journalist, who worked for Aristide's Radio Ti Moun, said pro-Aristide journalists in the northern rebel-held areas are still receiving threats.

``There's no real press freedom in Haiti no matter who you work for,'' said the journalist, who spoke on condition of anonymity on Saturday.

Throughout decades of turmoil, radio has been one of few reliable mediums in this impoverished nation of 8 million. More than 150 stations operate in Haiti, made all the more vital since a little more than half of Haitians can read, and few can afford televisions.

``Everything happens on the radio. People call and complain to radio stations instead of going to the police,'' said Dadou Jean-Bart, owner of the private Radio Galaxy.

The station was one of several affected by an attack on Jan. 13, when armed vandals smashed a radio transmission site owned by several of the private stations critical of Aristide.

Richard Widmaier, general director of Radio Metropole and the current head of the Association of Haitian Media, said if Haiti is to have a viable democracy, independent media must play a vital role.

``You never know what face the enemy will take,'' he said. ``I think the press in Haiti has to be very vigilant to identify that enemy.''

MIAMI (AFP) - Prosecutors are investigating whether Haitian former president Jean Bertrand Aristide took millions of dollars from drug traffickers who moved cocaine through his impoverished nation, it was reported

"It's in the early stages," one law enforcement source told The Miami Herald. "It's a bit premature to say we've got anything yet. But you're not wrong if you say that's where we're going."

The report quoted officials in Florida and Washington as saying investigators had been briefed on reports that relatives of Aristide and his wife, Mildred, hold nearly 250 million dollars in European banks. The officials added, however, that there is no indication yet whether the funds actually exist.

Haiti's Justice Minister Bernard Gousse meanwhile said Friday he planned to set up a commission next week to investigate allegations against Aristide "from misuse of government funds to human-rights abuses."

Full story here.

SHANGHAI, China (AP) -- A woman who posted an article on the Internet criticizing the way China's government handles public complaints has been sentenced to 18 months in a labor camp, a human rights group said Thursday.

Ma Yalian used several Chinese legal affairs Web sites to post the article documenting her fruitless efforts to petition over the destruction of her Shanghai home, New York-based Human Rights in China, or HRIC, said in a statement.

Ma described police violence and harassment of her and other petitioners, the group said. She said some protested by committing suicide outside government offices.

HRIC said Ma was sentenced on March 16 by Shanghai's Re-education Through Labor Management Committee. It said the committee accused her of ``falsely accusing Shanghai authorities of causing her physical injury,'' and having ``turned petitioning into pestering.''

Shanghai police said they had no information about Ma, and the phone number for the Re-education Through Labor Management Committee was not listed.

Chinese law permits such committees to sentence people to up to three years in labor camps without trial. Intended to punish minor criminals, prostitutes and drug addicts, the system is also frequently used to quiet political and religious dissenters.

Critics call the system unconstitutional, but officials say it's needed to maintain order across the huge nation.

Ma's case underscores China's efforts to squelch dissent on the Internet, which it polices heavily for content critical of the government and Communist Party.

Dozens of people have been sentenced to prison for posting or downloading such materials and authorities recently expanded their reach by cracking down on blogs -- online diaries that sometimes include critical commentary on politics and society.

China allows citizens to register complaints through a nationwide network of offices, but the system is frequently criticized as slow, bureaucratic and ineffective. Chinese legal scholars say officials aren't legally obligated to respond.

During the annual session of China's parliament last month, hundreds of people who had made their way to Beijing from other parts of the country to present petitions to lawmakers were detained in a gymnasium in the capital.

Many complaints arise from the loss of homes to redevelopment projects. Petitioners usually say they were victims of collusion between officials and developers or weren't compensated.

HRIC said authorities appeared to be cracking down harder on petitioners. It cited recent cases of people in Shanghai being sentenced to labor camps after protesting forced relocations.